The Triads of Ireland: An Illustrated Collection

Three candles that illumine every darkness:

Truth

Nature

Knowledge

This passage is part of a vibrant and uniquely Irish poetic form: Trecheng Breth Féne. In English, Triads.

Resembling haikus to the modern Western eye, the Triad follows the formula of setting a concept for discussion in the first line, and describing its salient qualities in the next three lines. Used as a tool for remembering law and etiquette throughout Ireland in preliterate times, the surviving triads form a body of work t...